Burning Down
by Russetfur1128
Summary: It's summertime and there is little rain this year. Rowan's pack has grown, and is stronger than before, but are they strong enough to overcome the obsticals ahead? (Third story in the Forest Series)
1. Prologue - ? ? ?

**? ? ?:**

I watched as my apprentice, Sagittarius, sorted healing herbs.

My mother had been right; one of Gemini's cubs _did_ have great potential. Sagittarius had a knack for healing and she made a great healer.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Sagittarius quickly began to grab herbs, but I shook my head.

"Leave them!" I told her "We'll find more when we reach safe ground!"

She reluctantly left the herbs and waited while I helped Wisp to her paws.

"Will you be able to make a run for it?" I asked the heavily pregnant Fang Fury.

"I may be expecting, but I could outrun you any day," she said, the familiar mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

I nodded to Sagittarius and we stepped into the sunlight, only to see our clanmates be destroyed by the human machines.


	2. Chapter 1 - Rowan

**Rowan:**

I batted lazily at a beetle that was crawling across the ground in front of me.

A slight breeze wafted through the air, but did next to nothing against the sweltering heat.

The past few moons have been extremely hot and we haven't had much rain.

I stood up as Fang and Star entered the clearing.

"Any luck?" I asked, hopefully.

Star nodded. "We found a brook near the town. The only problem is that it's inside our old pack's territory."

I sighed. "We'll just have to try not to be caught," I said.

The stream that went past the clearing had dried up a few days ago and I knew the stream near Gravity Falls wasn't much bigger.

"For now let's just work on getting through this hot season."

Star and Fang nodded in agreement. Since joining my pack, they had become quite loyal and helpful.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Jay standing there.

"I-I was wondering... if I, uh, should, um, go... go on another p-patrol to find water?" Jay asked and I shook my head.

"Star and Fang found a stream near the town, so we'll be fine for now," I said "Although, you could help Red and Keesh with the new dens."

She nodded and went over to where the two cervitaurs were weaving ivy and sticks together.

I saw that Fawn was entertaining the two newest additions to the pack, Kip and Becca. Their mother had been killed by my old pack, so Star had brought them back to our home. The two pups have been sharing Fawn's den while their den is being built.

Fawn may have been eight years older than them, but you wouldn't know it, because they got a long so well.

I left camp to search for more den-building supplies; most of the ivy we were able to find nearby was brittle and dry.

Dry leaves crackles under my paws and I winced. If this weather kept up, we might end up with our home being burnt to the ground.

I walked in the damp streambed, searching for any green ivy.

* * *

I came back to camp weary from my long trek, but semi-successful; I had found some green areas far upstream, but I knew that they wouldn't stay that way for long in this weather.

Freddy came up to me. "Rowan, you really need to rest," he said "I'll take a group out to find more ivy, ok?"

I sighed, he was right, I did need rest. "Okay," I relented "There's quite a bit of good ivy far upstream," I told him.

"Okay," he said "I'll take Keesh, Snow, and Rose with me. We'll bring back as much as possible."

I smiled wearily. "Thanks, Freds," I said.

He nodded and I went to my den. It didn't take me long to doze off.

* * *

 _I ran through the trees, flames at my heels. A black shadow flew above me. I couldn't make out who or what it was. All I knew was that I had to keep running._

 _Someone cried out, it sounded like Kip._

" _Fawn, no!" Freddy cried as his sister turned and ran back into the flames._

 _I was separated from the others, surrounded by the flames. I saw the shadow again, coming straight at me. The darkness engulfed me and everything faded away._


	3. Chapter 2 - Crow

**Crow:**

I ran through the forest, enjoying being free. I never got to do this when I was part of the herd; my father always made behave like an adult, even though I was just a little kid. He wanted me to grow up to lead the herd, but I never had wanted to, it was just too much responsibility. I had always liked being on my own, but I never had the chance.

Now I could do whatever I wanted, though. Rowan and the others had helped me and my sister get away from the herd, and they really didn't care what we did in our free time.

I jumped over a fallen log and skidded to a halt. Something was burning; I could smell it.

I trotted in the direction of the smell and looked for any sign of flames. I fell into a bout of coughing as smoke was blown into my face.

I turned and went to the side to avoid the smoke. That's when I saw where it was coming from. A pile of dried leaves was burning, which was something that humans did, but nobody was watching it and the flames had spread to a nearby tree. The fire continued to branch out to trees and bushes on either side.

I reared up and galloped back to camp as quickly as I could.

Once I got back to camp, I nearly ran straight into my sister.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped.

"Sorry," I apologized "Where's Rowan?" I asked.

"How should I know?" Jay said, irritated "I don't keep track of her."

"Whatever," I muttered, going over to Snow.

"Snow!" I called out and she looked up.

"Have you seen Rowan?" I asked

"Seen is really the tricky word there," Snow joked.

"Sorry," I said, giving a small smile "Do you know where she is, though?"

"Yes, actually, she said she was going to get some rest, why?"

"There's a fire starting near the south end of the territory," I told her.

"If it's that far away, it most likely won't get to us, considering the stream at that end," she said "I wouldn't worry about it."

"I guess you're right," I agreed.

* * *

Sure enough, when Red went to check it out later, he reported that it had stopped at the stream and there was no fire damage to our side of the brook.

Rowan, however, agreed that we should be alert for any danger of fire.

* * *

I grazed near the new stream, enjoying the shade. I jumped at the sound of movement from the bushes, only to relax when I saw Rose and Red.

"Sup?" Red asked, nonchalantly.

"Nothing much," I said, shrugging "Other than hoping not to be attacked by an angry werewolf pack."

Red huffed. "Yeah," he agreed "this is risky, but what else are we to do?"

"Other than travel half an hour to the south stream," Rose said "Not much." Her tail twitched. "This stream is far closer than the south one, if risky to use."

"Risky is right," a gruff voice from behind me said, and I spun around to see a silver wolf with one black ear.

"Now don't mind me," he said, calmly. "I'm no threat to you, just getting a drink and carrying on my way." He looked around. "By the looks of it, I just traveled in a complete circle, ah, no matter," he said, to nobody in particular.

I just watched as he went past me and the others and drank from the stream. When he was done he looked back at us.

"The landscape of this place makes me think of the stories I was told as a cub," he said "About where demon cubs were left to die."

"Demon cubs?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Yup, our medic was given the job of taking them far away from the clan, and ol' Taurus would tell me of the place he would take them." He paused. "My sister, Aquila, was considered a demon cub."

"Okay, but what _is_ a demon cub?" I asked.

"A black cub with bat-like wings instead of feathered wings," he said, spreading black, feathered wings with gray speckles.

"Whoah! What are you?" I asked him.

"I'm what is called a fang fury, we are protectors, known for being friendly towards even our enemies." He smiled. "Anyways, I should keep moving, I'm still looking for my clan."

"Why don't you come back with us?" I asked.

"Crow!" Rose hissed.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to be a bother," he said.

"It's no bother, really," I persisted. "I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting our friends."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a small rest," he said "Okay, I'll come with you, but I won't stay long."

"Great!" I said "Our camp is just this way, about five minutes from here."

* * *

"I've been here before," the fang fury said as we came through the entrance. "Although, it wasn't as lively as it is now."

"We've been here for about two seasons," Red said "It's been like this since we got here."

"I see," the fang fury said "I was here nearly a year ago."

"I'll be right back," I said and went to find Rowan.

I went over to Snow.

Even though she was blind, Snow always seemed to know where to find the ones you were looking for.

"Hey, do you know where Rowan is?" I asked.

"She went hunting with Star and Fang while you were out," Snow said. She turned towards the entrance. "Seems like their back."

I looked in that direction, and sure enough, the three werewolves had just darted through the entrance. Rowan immediately went to Freddy, who was working on fixing the dens.

"I don't know how you do that," I said.

"It's a gift," Snow said, shrugging.

I looked back to see almost everyone heading towards the entrance. Star ran over to me and Snow.

"A fire is spreading from the East side and the wind is spreading it quickly towards camp," Star said "We need to get out of here."

* * *

We grouped near the stream to make sure everyone was there; the only problem was that everyone wasn't.

Jay, Fawn, Kip, and Becca were all missing. They had gone on a walk early that day because Kip and Becca were causing so much chaos in the camp.

Rowan approached me.

"You will go look for them, along with Keesh, Alcor, Freddy, Fang, Star, and I. The rest of you," she raised her voice "Get as close to the town as you dare!"

She took off with the rest of us behind her.


	4. Chapter 3 - Fawn

**Fawn:**

I had Kip on my back as I ran and Keesh had Becca on hers.

* * *

One moment I was playing with the two pups on the shade, the next thing I know, we're surrounded by flames.

I had grabbed ahold of Kip and Keesh already had grabbed Becca. We had taken off, trying to find the quickest way out of the blaze.

* * *

I could hear our names being called from a direction, but the flames seemed thickest in that area.

"Should we try to make it over the flames?" I asked Keesh.

"I think that would be our best bet," she agreed.

I went back as far as I dared and waited for Keesh. She was able to make it over, so I ran for it and leaped.

I landed hard on the other side of the flames, just as Rowan, Freddy, Star, Fang, Crow, and some other creature came into view.

"Fawn!" I heard Kip call out and spun around, he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Kip?!" I screeched "where are you?!"

"I fell!" I heard him say "Please help me!"

I flattened my ears and headed back towards the flames.

"Fawn, no!" I heard my brother call out, but I ignored him.


	5. Chapter 4 - Rowan

**Rowan:**

Freddy pressed forward. "Fawn, no!" he screeched, but she didn't stop.

"Get out of here, I'll get Fawn," I said.

"But—"

"No! You need to get everyone else out before the fire reaches them," I persisted.

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

"I'll help look for Fawn," Alcor offered.

"No, help the others," I ordered.

"I wasn't giving you an option," Alcor said.

"Fine, you help look for Fawn and the rest of you go help the others," I told them.

Freddy nodded and led the others back the way we came.

"I'll fly above," Alcor said.

"Okay."

He took off and I ran into the flames. I jumped out of the way as a flaming branch came crashing down where I was seconds before. I ran through the burning brush, alert for any sign of Fawn or Kip.

I began coughing as I got to an area where the flames were thickest. I had a hard time breathing before, but now it was even worse.

"Fawn? Kip? Where are you?" I called out and listened for a reply.

"I'm here!" I heard Kip's weak reply, then I saw him, he was trapped against a bush, that would most likely soon catch fire.

I started towards him, only for my vision started to fade.

"No..." I managed to whisper, before everything went black.


	6. Chapter 5 - ? ? ?

**? ? ?:**

I opened my eyes to see flames everywhere. I stood up and spotted a pup cornered by the flames. I raced over to him to find that he was unconscious, but still breathing. I laid down next to him and wrapped a wing around him to protect him from the flames.

"You're safe now," I whispered "We'll just have to wait this out."


	7. Chapter 6 - Freddy

**Freddy:**

Keesh, Fang, Star, Jay, and Becca followed me as I headed towards the town. I leaped over the stream we had been using for the last week and a half and saw a shed near the town.  
"Over there!" I said, pointing at it.  
I peeked inside and sure enough, the rest of the group was there.  
Becca climbed down off of Keesh's back and went over to Snow.  
"What will happen to our home?" She asked, nervously.  
"It will probably be ruined," Snow said "But we can always rebuild. Things will go back to the way they were before the fire."  
Becca nodded. "And Kip and Fawn will be okay, right?"  
Snow nodded. "They'll be fine, you'll see."  
I smiled. Snow always knew the right thing to say in every situation.


	8. Chapter 7 - ? ? ?

**? ? ?:**

I opened my eyes, but dared not open my wings. Though the flames couldn't hurt me through my tough wings, I could still feel the searing heat.  
 _"Who am I?"_ I thought _"How did I get here?"_  
I tried to remember, but could find nothing.  
 _"Memories I would visit, but I have none,"_ I thought.  
I tried harder, searching deeper. I remembered a silver wolf, she was smiling at me.  
 _"You are Aquila," she said._

 _Aquila... I am Aquila._  
I remembered my brother, Alcor.

I see a gray wolf. He has raven wings with silver speckles. He is silhouetted against the flames. He takes flight and the memory fades.  
I think back to the silver wolf.

* * *

 _"Be careful!" She warned from the den.  
"Don't worry, Gemini," A black wolf comforted. "The cubs are strong. They'll be fine."  
I pounced on my sister, nipping her ear.  
"Hey!" she yelped "I'm trying to watch Taurus!"  
I looked over at the small red-brown wolf helping a golden wolf sort leaves.  
"Ugh, you're more interested in dumb plants than playing!" I complained.  
"They're herbs, not dumb plants," she huffed.  
"Yeah, whatever," I scoffed. "You're still no fun."  
My sister–Sagittarius was her name–turned away from the two wolves–the healers– and stared at me.  
"Someday I'll be a healer and I'm going to save your life," she said.  
"Yeah right," I snickered "When I'm all grown up, I ain't gonna need help from nobody!"  
"You mean you_ won't _need help from_ anybody _!" Sagittarius said, annoyed.  
"Yeah whatever."_

* * *

A new memory pushed its way forward. We were slightly older. My family was crowded around me and Taurus.

* * *

 _"It shouldn't matter what she looks like!" my father snarled at Taurus "She's only a cub! You can't do this!"  
"It's my duty as healer to rid the clan of these cursed cubs!" Taurus argued. "I'm not going to let the same mistake be made twice! Your daughter will not curse this clan anymore than Crux did!"  
My father started towards Taurus, but my mother stopped him.  
"He's right, Blaze," she whispered. "It's the way of the clans. You and I both knew this was coming from the day she was born." She sighed "Just be grateful that she is old enough to have a chance at survival."_

 _Alcor approached Taurus and looked at him curiously._  
 _"What did Aquila do wrong?" he asked._  
 _Taurus looked down at him and glared. "Your sister's existence in itself is wrong," he growled. "She's a demon cub. She's cursed! She. Is. Bad!"_  
 _"Aquila is not bad!" Alcor countered "She's good! Very good!"_

 _"Oh give it a rest, will you?" Taurus said, pushing Alcor back with his paw. "You're just too young to understand!"_  
 _He picked me up by the scruff of my neck and spread his wings. I watched my home get smaller and smaller as he flew away._

* * *

 _I had dozed off sometime during the flight and the next thing I knew, I was being set down on cold stone._  
 _I watched as Taurus walked away and spread his wings._  
 _"Taurus?" I called out to him, and he stopped. "Where are you going?" I asked._  
 _He turned to face me. "Don't speak to me," he spat "I'd rather not have your curse spread to me and my clan." With that, he spread his red-brown wings and took to the air, leaving me beside the river._

* * *

 _A few minutes after he had left me, I heard a twig snap and I whirled around at the sudden noise. I spotted a tannish-gray wolf without wings. I knew that fang furies could shed their wings, but I had never tried. I thought about what my sister, Lyra, had once said; "You just need to picture your wings folding away completely."_  
 _I folded my wings tight against by back and tried thinking about what I would look like without wings. They began to feel sort of tingly and after the sensation faded, I looked at my warped reflection in the stream. My eyes widened in surprise; not only was I without my wings, my entire appearance had been altered. Gone was my pitch black fur and it its place was muddy brown fur with dark rowan patches. I was so wrapped up in my new appearance, that I didn't notice someone sneaking up behind me._  
 _When I turned around, I found myself nose-to-nose with a white cub about my age._  
 _"Hi! I'm Star!" the cub yipped._  
 _"Aquila," I replied, simply._  
 _"Odd name," she commented._  
 _I was just about to retort that it was not, but before I could say anything she grinned._  
 _"I like it!" She sniffed me and I backed up slightly. "So, where ya from Quill?" she asked me "You don't smell like pines, that's for sure!"_  
 _"First of all, it's Aquila, not Quill," I said "Second of all, no I'm not from around here, I'm quite a ways from home, to be exact."_  
 _"Star!" A new voice called out and we both whipped around to see the gray-tan wolf from earlier coming towards us._  
 _"I said I'd take you on an adventure, not that you could go it solo," he said, giving a small smile._  
 _"Sorry, Twig," Star apologized._  
 _Twig shook his head. "It's fine. Who's your friend?"_  
 _Star smiled. "This is Quill! Can she come home with us?" she asked._  
 _Twig looked at me. "Is there a reason you would like to come with us? Don't you have a pack of your own?"_  
 _"No and no. It was Star's idea and I was left here," I said, trying to answer both questions at once. "And my name isn't Quill, it's Aquila."_

 _Twig led us through the thorn barrier and Star chattered on about her pack._  
 _"You're going to love it here! You and I can be like sisters! Oh, by the way, you'll also be getting a brother, because I have a brother. His name is Fang. Oh, hey! wouldn't it be so cool if you two ended up together? Then we really_

 _would be sisters!"_  
 _I stayed silent, because even if I had wanted to say anything, I wouldn't have been able to._  
 _Twig shooed Star away towards one of the dens and led me towards a large rock with a cave in its side._  
 _"Alpha, are you in there?" Twig called._  
 _"Yes I'm in here, now what do you want?" a voice snapped. A black wolf with a white stripe on the left side of its muzzle came to the mouth of the cave. "You'd better have a good eason for interupting my meal," he snarled._  
 _"This pup was left by the river nearest the town. I was hoping she could stay."_  
 _"Fine, I'll announce it later on," the wolf grumbled. "Now if that is all, I'd like to get back to my meal."_  
 _Without giving Twig a chance to reply, he whipped around and stalked back inside the cave._  
 _"You can go play with the other pups," Twig said._

 _I sat silently next to the Alpha on top of the rock and watched as the pack gathered below. Once all the wolves were gathered, he cleared his throat._  
 _"We are gathered here to accept this pup into our pack," he said. "I give her the name Rowan, for the color of her fur."_  
 _"Um, sorry, but my name is Aquila," I said._  
 _He looked down at me. "_

 _Youdo not get to choose your name," he growled at me. "Your name is Rowan and that is final."_

* * *

 _"Rowan,"_ I thought, as more memories returned. _"I am Rowan._


End file.
